A/HRC/27/52/Add.3 private land on grounds of national and public necessity.10 As will be discussed (see para. 39 below), Perupetro is required by national law to consult the indigenous peoples who will be affected by a license for hydrocarbon exploration and production before the executive decree approving the license is approved.11 16. Mining activity, for its part, is regulated by a complex set of laws and regulations, with the Single Consolidated Text of the General Mining Act serving as the basis for awarding mining concessions.12 Before an operating lease is signed, which gives the holder “the right to extract or concentrate the valuable part of a mineral aggregate”,13 it is necessary to obtain surface rights from the landowner, as well as to have an environmental certification, approval of water use studies and a series of other permits.14 As will be noted below (para. 40), the Ministry of Energy and Mines has drawn attention to the need to consult the indigenous populations affected at various stages during the process. 17. With respect to environmental safeguards, before any natural resources exploration or exploitation activity can take place, a contractor must submit an environmental impact study, which must be approved by the Ministry of Energy and Mines. One recent area of concern is the Ministry’s announcement that oil and gas exploration will no longer require an environmental impact study, as required under current legislation, a change that would be a serious step back in terms of environmental protection for these projects. IV. Impact of extractive industries on the rights of indigenous peoples 18. For decades, extractive industries have had a devastating social and environmental impact on several of the country’s indigenous peoples, including on peoples in a situation of isolation or initial contact, without benefiting them greatly. 19. One concern has been that awarding concessions for the exploitation of natural resources in areas claimed by indigenous communities but for which they do not hold title may lead to disregarding any rights they might hold to the leased areas. It is worth noting that the Office of the Deputy Minister of Intercultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture has informed the Special Rapporteur that procedures for prior consultation with affected indigenous peoples will be put in place both in lands to which they hold title and in lands to which they do not (see section VI below). 20. One of the main problems to arise in the history of natural resource extraction in the country is the pollution caused by mining operations, which has still not been cleaned up. A good deal of this pollution was caused in the years before the development of the current environmental standards. It may be noted that informal and illegal mining, engaged in by roughly 60,000 persons nationwide (see para. 62 below), still takes place in entirely unregulated fashion, with devastating consequences for the environment. The Special Rapporteur also received information from community representatives from the district of Cojata (Huancané province, department of Puno) concerning the pollution caused by mining activities in the neighbouring Plurinational State of Bolivia, which has contaminated the Suches River, polluting grasslands and causing the death of alpacas, birds and other animals. Neither the Plurinational State of Bolivia nor Peru, it is alleged, is taking 10 11 12 13 14 6 Ibid., arts. 82 and 84. Ministerial Decision No. 350-2012-MEM/DM, art. 1. Supreme Decree No. 014-92-EM. Ibid., art. 18. Ministerial Decision No. 003-2013-MEM/DM, annex 1. GE.14-07246